FROM THE NY DAILY NEWS: Sterling Sharpe, hired by NBC Sports last week, treats the media like garbage. That wonderful characteristic did not change when Sharpe became a media member.
No big deal. Most of us are used to being treated like dirt. At NBC, he will be judged on his performance - and if he can get along with his colleagues on the Peacock's NFL pregame show.
That shouldn't be a problem. However, NBC may have one with two of its other NFL hires - Al Michaels, the play-by-play man, and Sports Illustrated/HBO's Peter King, who will serve as a reporter.
In 1995, the pair worked together on ABC's "Monday Night Football." During a Dolphins-Chiefs game, Michaels triggered a nasty feud with King by trashing an SI cover on the rise of Pat Riley and the fall of Don Shula in Miami.
Off air, Michaels basically told producers that when it came to breaking news, he and some of his colleagues did a better job than King in getting marquee players to talk.
The diss got even hotter when Mark Mulvoy, SI's then-managing editor, defended King. Mulvoy ripped Michaels on WFAN's "Mike and the Mad Dog Show."
Michaels fired back on WFAN, saying: "In the recent reports, King has done a lot that I've seen earlier in the day on CNN Headline News....I'm waiting to hear something that I haven't heard before. The feedback I get is very ordinary. I've never heard anybody say, 'That was really terrific.'"
”Ouch! Yeah, many moons have passed since this venom was flowing. But if you think King has forgotten, think again. In his Monday Morning Quarterback column on SI.com he often headlines one item: "Who I Like Tonight, and I Don't Mean Al Michaels." It makes you wonder if these two can happily interact.”
I just gained even more respect for Al Michals than before! Thank god he’s not afraid to call out King for just what he is: a journalistic lightweight on his best days, and a partisan biased fan hack on most.